THE CRANKY OLD MAN
Random thoughts and stuff from a cranky old man. Humor (maybe)and satire, mostly stuff from a confused head.
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Saturday, January 18, 2014

TRAFFIC JAM IN NEW JERSEY

TRAFFIC JAM IN NEW
JERSEY

A Cranky Opinion for

CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY

The following is the opinion of a
cranky old man with very little expertise on the subject opined.Opposing opinions are welcome.They are wrong, but they are welcome and
please, no name calling.That goes for
you, you big stupid head!

The Governor
of New Jersey, Chris Christie, is a big man.He is a straight talker, and he is known for getting the job done.He also has the reputation of being a bully.Much of this reputation is the result of his
demeanor at Town Hall Meetings.When he
is attacked, he attacks back, and he attacks back with facts, common sense and
no bull shit.Many people like his style.

Chris
Christie is now being attacked again, all over a traffic jam.Not just a little traffic jam, but a four day
mess which almost shut down a New Jersey Town, Fort Lee, and delayed thousands
of commuters for hours every day for four days.The delays were the result of the Port Authority of New York closing
down several access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, possibly the most
heavily traveled bridge in the country.

The reason
given for the shut-down was to conduct a traffic usage study.

The real
reason it turns out was to punish the Mayor of Fort Lee for not supporting Christie’s
campaign for reelection.

The
shut-down was requested by a high Christie official and ordered by a Christie
Port Authority appointee.When it became
clear that the shut-down was ordered to punish the Mayor of Fort Lee, Governor
Christie made a very emphatic apology.He fired those directly responsible and made a special trip to Fort Lee
and apologized again this time personally to the Mayor.He also took responsibility for the
debacle.Well, he took responsibility
while he also sidestepped it, something politicians do so well. He did not order the shut-down; he did not
know about it. He was embarrassed, humiliated and angry when he found out his
trusted advisors were responsible and had lied to him about the whole incident.It was, he said, an extremely stupid act.

As a New
Jersey resident, I have liked and respected Chris Christie for a long
time.He is effective, fair, and his
decisions are based on what he thinks are the best policies for the State of
New Jersey.Many people in New Jersey
and in other states have the same belief in Chris Christie.So many people like his style that he has
been talked about as a potential Presidential candidate.

In my
opinion, the traffic jam has derailed that train.

I do not
think that Chris Christie ordered the traffic jam.He is too smart for that.I don’t think he knew about the deliberate
lane shut-downs, but the incident does say something about the man and his
leadership that worries me.

There was a
mess in Fort Lee for four days because of lane shutdowns.Four days, and the Governor never asked what
was going on?One day I can understand,
two days maybe, but four days?He either
was unconcerned, clueless, or was covering up for friends.There is no good explaination.

The fact
that his high ranking officials orchestrated this idiocy does not speak well
for Christie’s leadership.Why would
these officials order this act without first checking with the Governor, and
what is the atmosphere of his administration that his own people would think
the traffic jam was a good idea?

If Governor
Christie ordered this act to punish a mayor for not supporting his reelection,
than he is an egomaniacal idiot who deserves to be impeached.

I am going
to give him the benefit of doubt that he did not order the traffic jam and did
not know it was done as a political act of retribution, but I will not give him
a pass.

The head of any
organization is responsible for the idiotic acts of those under him.He is responsible if not directly for their
actions, then at the least for the bad judgment to put such stupid
irresponsible people in a position of power.He is responsible for setting the climate and tone of his administration
that would, at the very least, allow underlings to think that screwing up
traffic on a busy important interstate highway was an acceptable concept.

Chris
Christie should either step down as Governor of New Jersey, or quietly finish
his term and forget all future political aspirations.

It pains me
to say this.

I thought
Chris Christie was the real thing.I
thought he was a politician who cared about the job, who cared about all the
people in his state, and was firm but fair.I thought Chris Christie would be just what we need as President of this
great country.

It is not be
the first time a politician has disappointed me; it will probably not be the last.

It still
sucks!

The preceding was the opinion of a
cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.

13 comments:

Not sure I agree Joe. If these were top, top, TOP aides who he knew well and met with daily (I am not that up on the story), then you might be right. But evey politician has to appoint hundreds or even thousands of people he doesn't know, and it's usually all his Appointments Secretary can do to come up with enough candidates who can pass a basic background check. They aren't all angels. When they're discovered, can 'em and move on. I don't know what other options there are.

Yet our president didn't know about many things and no one is holding him accountable. The buck stopped with Christie, not with Obama. He's done nothing but finger point since he was elected. Christie also takes the spotlight off all the federal government scandals.

I agree Sandee...I would like to hold all our politicians to a higher standard otherwise we get what we vote for. We (the country)already voted for President Obama I would like our next President to have more integrity...sadly Governor Christie may fail that test.

I'm a Minnesotan and never knew much about Christie's policies or style until the storm. I kinda liked him (I'm married to a big guy with a New York accent) and I thought he was smart to work with Obama to get aid for NJ. But I think you're right about this scandal. It gives credibility to the charges of him being a bully and weakens his image as an effective manager, not to mention someone who can work in a bipartisan manner to make good things happen.

People have no problem with bullies when the bully is on your side, and I think this is why the people of New Jersey liked their governor. But now it looks like Christie, a known micro-manager, went out of his way to harm the people of New Jersey, who he's sworn to protect. This event on the bridge went on for four days. If he didn't know anything about it he certainly saw it on the news (I saw it on day one here in Oregon.) Why then didn't he order the traffic study aborted on day One? As governor he certainly had that authority. Much as I'd like to support an overweight candidate (yes I'm that childish) I just don't think Christie is presidential material.

As for presidential material, I don't think that train ever left the station. They may like big in Texas, but even if he did carry Austin he'd go down in most every state from the California border to the Appalachians.

I'm far away from New Jersey but I completely agree with your assessment. Sounds to me like he must have known something, and even if he wasn't involved he must have set a culture in which this kind of payback was made possible.

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I am 70 years old, I have 4 children 45,42,40 and 18;and 5 grandchildren 13-6
. Divorced twice, married three times. I worked on Wall Street for 40 years after graduating from Lafayette College in 1968. I have turned to writing as since retirement I needed something to tell people "What the F*** I do." Published one book "Maybe It's Just Me!" available at Amazon, soon to release my second, "I Used To Be Stupid."
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